Austin Documentary Wins Special Jury Award at Seattle Film Festival

A film that explores the global popularity of sushi and its devastating effect on the Bluefin tuna population won a special jury award at the Seattle International Film Festival. “Sushi: The Global Catch” premiered at the festival last week.

"The film brings to the forefront the urgent and occasionally competing arguments of overfishing that don't necessarily have easy answers - truly a film that is food for thought,” the jury said in its comments of the film.

“Sushi: The Global Catch” is the first feature length documentary made by Austin-based producer and director Mark Hall and his team of local film makers. It also includes an interview with Austin sushi chef Tyson Cole.

This review on MovingPicturesNetwork.com says the film is most interesting when it addresses the dilemma that sushi eaters and producers face:

While we all know on an intellectual level that the global appetite for sushi is harming fish stocks, it’s hard to get around the addiction to its consumption.

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An American environmentalist group urged consumers to boycott blue fin tuna this week. The Center for Biological Diversity said the species is critically endangered because of overfishing and the BP oil leak. But Austin restauranteur Tyson Cole says his restaurant tries to serve blue fin tuna that is harvested responsibly.